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Topic: Nosema Question (Read 12117 times)

Kathy, good that you have the patience. But remember.....if the chalkbrood doesn't clean up, it doesn't matter one single whit if the queen is a great layer, she may be laying wonderfully, but what a waste of her time, hee, hee. She is doing her job, there is chalkbrood issues though, that is bad. Good luck, it will be interesting to hear of what will come. Have the beautiful day that you deserve. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

cindi, i think it's just to early to tell. the weather has been so crappy. they say snow this weekend. it's APRIL!!!!!!!!!

i hope it's not wishful thinking on my part that this will clear up :-(

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called the government. They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

Just lost 5 hives this winter to Nosema. I sent samples to Beltsville and the report came back with a mite count of 36 from the sample and a spore count of 2,450,000 per bee. They added that 1,000,000 spores per bee was considered very high.

I got to talking to a local commercial beek about it and he told me to scrape the frames, frame rests, and hive body down real good and get a spray bottle full of common vinegar and spray every thing down with it. He said after the stuff dried out most if not all of the Nosema spores would be killed or at least reduced to the point that it would be safe to place new bees back in those hives. Anyone have any experience with this method of killing Nosema spores?

DID they identify the strain of Nosema -WAS it apis or ceranae-from what i am to understand the old tricks dont work on the ceranae strain-RDY-B

Does it make a difference if it is Apple Cider or Distilled White Vinegar?

The Stop & Shop brand of apple cider and distilled white vinegar are both diluted with water to 5% acid.Not a plug, it's just that the rice wine vinegar and Balsamic vinegars have both lost their labels.If you are going to add it to your syrup, then I would use the apple cider vinegar because of the extra phenols (flavor) that it will empart.But then I've never added vinegar to syrup, so what do I know?

Beltsville did not say which strain of Nosema, only that there were 2,450,000 spores per bee. Average counts of 1,000,000 spores per bee is high. The five nucs that are coming have been treated before leaving S.C. so I won't need to worry about it until this fall. That will give me time to figure out what type feeder I will use to dispense the syrup and vinegar. I've got two nice hive top feeders made of wood that work well and the other three will probably get some el cheapo paint pails or gallon jars over the hole in the inner cover.